Very! Inspiring

Well, what do you know?  I disappear for nine months and win an award!  I should go MIA more often!

Gypsy from Once Upon a Blog nominated me for The Very Inspiring Blogger Award.  Thanks, Gypsy!  Now I'm supposed to list seven things my readers may or may not know about me.

1. You might have guessed at the significance of a nine month absence--that's right, I had another baby!  It takes me all nine to ten months (still not sure how that works) to make a baby, during which time I am dead to the world because of illness, fatigue, and otherwise disinterest in a will to live.  It's all worth it in the end.  My second child was born on January 14, a little boy!
2. His name is Roan Reuel, and yes, Reuel is for the family name inherited and passed along to the descendants of JRR Tolkien.  No, we're not related (alas!).
3. I have naturally curly hair, like a hobbit.
4. I once held human bones that I picked out of the dirt in an excavation site beneath a church in Rome--a fraction of a skull and a vertebrae.  May he (or she, or they) rest in peace!
5. My rival hobby to fairy tales and writing is photography, and I've started my own small business here.
6. I'm a loyal Catholic.  Astute readers might have picked up on this already.
7. My older son (4 years old) has Autism.  I'm just bumbling among and figuring things out, but if you want to talk or have any resources to share, I'm here.

Now I'm supposed to nominate other bloggers for the Award, of which there is absolutely no obligation for them to participate.  I nominate:

• A.L. Loveday of The Honey-Coloured View
• Masha of Cyganeria
• Jenna of A Light Inside
• Anna of Don't Forget the Avocados
• Kelly of The Middle Page

I hope this is the beginning of a more regular posting schedule in 2015.  Thanks for sticking with me!